Seven Years.

I pleaded not guilty. Said it was a crime of passion. But the judge and jury were having none of it and I got life. That was ten years ago and I’m still here in Bedford Prison. A place I now call home.

I killed her. No question about it. I lost my temper and hit her with a paperweight from my desk. She fell backwards and hit her head hard on the granite floor. But she was still alive. I should have called 999, but I didn’t. I hit her again and finished her off. She’d just told me about Michael. He was the nerd in the IT department where she worked. She said she was in love with him and was leaving me.

It was a moment of madness and I’m now paying the consequences.

I did a year in Wandsworth, then three in Colchester and then on to Bedford.

In nick you have a choice of three things to pass the time. Fitness, Religion or Education. I was never one for going down the gym and pumping iron and I’ve always been an atheist so I chose education.

Two years ago I started a Science Degree. I love it and it began my appeal procedure.

At first my Lawyer laughed when I told him that I was going to appeal the conviction. But after months and months of dedicated research, all done by me, he now thinks we may have a chance.

It started when I read a paper written by Dr Hans Zeiber. He started the theory that body cells replace themselves every seven years. This started me on a whole new journey of discovery.

You see, most cultures and religions talk about a seven year cycle. It’s even mentioned in the Bible. And of course, we’ve all heard about “The seven year itch”, meaning that after seven years in a relationship we change and start to look for something or someone else.

But scientists have now proven this to be true. Our entire body is made up of cells. These cells come together to form organs and tissue, in fact everything that makes us who we are. But every cell in our body changes, dies and replaces itself every seven years.

So that’s my new defence. It wasn’t ME who killed my wife. How could it be? I was a different person back then...